Under E3 utannonserade Microsoft hela fem nya utvecklare varav de flesta var uppköp. En av dem, och den förmodligen mest överraskande, var brittiska Ninja Theory och nu har chefen för Microsoft Studios (Matt Booty) kommenterat valet av dem och tanken bakom detta i en intervju hos Games Industry. Bland annat pekas Game Pass ut som en av orsakerna till uppköpen:
"We believe that Game Pass is fantastic for our players because of the ability to discover games and the chance to circle back on games that they missed when they first came out. They're also being exposed to things that, because it's available on Game Pass, they might like to try and maybe become a fan of. We think that what drives a lot of that is variety and creativity. So when we think about: 'Why Ninja Theory?' They really just fit into that category of developers that's getting harder and harder to sustain in the industry. A developer that is right on the cusp of large AAA content, making very well-crafted content. I don't think we'd use indie to describe Ninja Theory. But at the same time, it's not the same as a studio that has multiple hundreds of people working on the next iteration of a AAA franchise, like a Halo.
We started looking at studios that are built around creative leads and people. An amazing thing about Ninja Theory is that it is very clear that the studio orbits around ideas and creativity, and the characters, storytelling and settings really come first for them. That just meshes really well with our desire to provide our players, especially those in Game Pass, with content that is new, unique, has variety and sits outside of the stuff we are doing with our bigger franchises."
Microsoft letar efter studios som har en effektiv utveckling samt en lämplig storlek, men det är med det sagt inte så att de har förutbestämda krav. Booty fortsätter:
"I don't want to seem like we're going out to fill a quota. It's not about filling a spreadsheet by any means. We will, however, have an interest in studios right now that fit this criteria of 50 to 100 people, who are making games on a two to three year cadence, and have content that we think will be of interest to our Game Pass subscribers. That means content that is a little different to what our big AAA franchises can deliver."
Ofta förlorar utvecklare sin själ när de köps upp av större företag och läggs ner några år senare. Det här vinner såklart ingen på och Booty kommenterar detta:
"Our plan for the studio in terms of integration is very much the same with what we did with Mojang and Minecraft. Which is a very, very minimal level of integration. We are not trying to come in and change the culture. We're not trying to overdo the Microsoft presence. But what we do is make the studio feel supported, empowered and capable of focusing entirely on the content, without needing to worry about the other day-to-day realities.
I think the main thing with Ninja Theory, is that it is getting more difficult to maintain a studio of that size - of about 100 people - making games that take between two/two and a half years. It's tough. The push for those studios is to orient toward very high production values, and they actually end up in a sphere where they're being compared to AAA. But they're clearly bigger and have more substantial funding needs than a typical small indie. So our goal really is to be able to empower them, support them and fund them, to take the step to whatever their next level of evolution is. We want to free them from worrying about where the next project is coming from, and what work-for-hire stuff they might need to take on."
Tycker du att Ninja Theory var ett bra val av Microsoft?
Ninja Theorys senaste spel var Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.
